Lightroom CC is here – what does this mean for Photoshop users?

Adobe have announced today that big changes are to be made to Lightroom, which is joining the roster of Creative Cloud apps.

This update sees Adobe move even further towards social media interaction and mobile device compatibility. An Android app for Lightroom is to be released and Adobe Slate, a new app, allows photographers to build stories with their pictures and share them with friends. Lightroom’s mobile app now has commenting enabled too, and you can share web links of your content. These are operational on any device and free as part of the £8.57-a-month annual plan.

As well as this, and a hefty processor improvement, there are plenty of new and improved features for helping photographers. Face recognition makes it easier to index faces, catalog pictures and can stack similar pictures, and this can tie into the social aspect of the software when you tag people into photos. There’s a new focus on HDR and panoramas too; there’s the ability to photomerge with ease now to create more beautiful, better exposed, or just bigger pictures. Slideshows now have added pan and zoom too now, and there’s the ability to sync your pictures to music, a cool feature that will speed up or slow down your slideshow in relation to the soundtrack.

In terms of what this means for Photoshop users, Lightroom is a useful companion. Editing pictures for the use of compositions just got even easier, as has sharing pictures with friends and connecting with other photographers.

Lightroom CC is also available as a standalone app: Lightroom 6. The mobile apps are free to trial for 30 days.